


Architect

by lurkingspecter



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, John's dead but he's fine, not canon compliant because I took some liberties with Jeffandrew's backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 17:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13171620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lurkingspecter/pseuds/lurkingspecter
Summary: John has a chat with his creator.





	Architect

When John came to, he was in a white space. Around him floated what appeared to be soap bubbles in every shade imaginable. One landed on his open palm and he brought it closer to his eye. Inside he saw blue and green overlaid with white patterns, which were constantly moving—it was a plane. He flicked it gently and it flew into the air to rejoin the others.

Someone cleared their throat. John looked around, but saw no one.

“I suppose that this is partially our fault,” said the voice from nowhere. “Things were bound to go bad from the moment that we dropped the Light.”

“Where are you?” said John, still peering around the whiteness.

“Outside. Outside of your universe, I mean. This may come as a shock, John, but I’m the one who created you.”

John’s eyebrows rose.

“Really?”

"Really.”

“Are you...God?”

They sighed.

“No. I really wish that people would stop saying that. How do I explain this...I heard you say that your entire plane transformed into something new. My people did something similar. We gave up our material forms to become beings with the power of creation. Every plane you consumed was one person's handiwork, one person trying to get it right. Your plane was mine."

John let out a sharp laugh.

“You sort of messed that one up, didn’t you?”

“I know. I watched things get worse and worse on your world and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Sometimes I think that if I had done things differently, then maybe the world wouldn’t have produced someone like you. Maybe you would have been able to find peace, in a different place.” They paused. “Creating a world-eating monstrosity was a bit of an overreaction, though.”

“I can’t deny that.”

They were silent for a bit.

"You know, we also went through a phase where we thought burning our civilization down and starting over was the only answer."

"How did you get past it?"

"It took a long, long time, but eventually we learned the cooperation was better than competition. We realized that if we worked together, we could create a place worth existing in."

“I don’t know if I can believe that’s possible.”

“Like I said, it took time. A lot of trial and error. It wasn’t a perfect utopia, either, because there were always problems, but I like to think that we got as close as any civilization could.”

“And then you, what...ascended?”

"Yes. You wanted to be ascendant, didn't you? From what I've seen, this is what ascendance looks like: when a civilization has reached the height of maturity, when it has comprehended its existence and come to terms with its limitations, when it has reached universal harmony among its peoples—then that civilization has reached its final phase in the life cycle, the phase where it is time to continue the chain of creation."

John let another plane land on his palm. This one was blood red. He frowned down at it.

“I’m not sure that I would have liked that. You’re implying that this whole chain of creation is endless, right?”

“Yes.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted to continue that. It would just be more of the same.”

"Hm, well, that’s a pity, because I was thinking about offering you a chance to make your own universe. Just a small one. Maybe.”

John’s mouth went dry.

“You’re joking.”

“Wouldn’t you like that, though? A chance to create a universe with your own laws? You thought that mine were cruel. What laws _would_ be fair, John? How would _you_ do it?”

He put his face in his hands. He felt dizzy, suddenly.

“I—I don’t know.”

“What did you think that becoming ascendant would entail, then, if not rewriting the laws that you hated?”

“I thought that I was creating something stronger than any force that universe could have created on its own. And it didn’t hurt that we had to break your rules to do it. You saw us, didn’t you? We were glorious. The end goal was, I will admit, a bit hazy, but it at least involved destroying all of your laws.”

“You wanted to make a lawless universe.”

John shrugged.

“Maybe. All I know is that I thought we were becoming something incredible. I wasn’t always sure what that would be, exactly, but I”—he reached up, as if grasping for something just out of reach—"I could _feel_ it. Maybe it was more instinct than anything, but it felt like we were definitely heading toward _something_. Something big.”

They made a skeptical noise.

“Once you had devoured everything, the Hunger may have, for lack of any sustenance, devoured itself. You could have self-destructed and been left with nothing. You don’t know what may have happened.”

John shook off the plane that he had picked up earlier and scowled up at the blankness.

“I wouldn’t have let that happen. Before we lost the Light, the Hunger was under my control.”

“Was it really?”

John hesitated.

“Maybe not completely. Anyway, that doesn’t matter now. I failed.”

Throughout their conversation John had been strolling through the field of bubbles, but now he froze.

“The Hunger _is_ dead, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

John began rushing through the bubbles, glancing at all of them quickly as he passed.

“Are you looking for Toril?”

He stopped.

“Yes.”

“The Hunger never took it, so it’s already back in its place. They’re safe.” The voice became softer. “He’s safe.”

The tension went out of John's body.

“Thank you. I thought that after I died, the Hunger may have...”

“No. The Hunger killed many people on that plane, but Merle and his friends got out of it okay.”

John let out a long sigh.

“Good.”

“You’re glad that it’s dead, then, even though you wanted it to succeed.”

“It became something that I never intended it to be. It became a rampant force of destruction with no purpose. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt by that, especially not Merle.”

“Merle is special.”

John nodded, and couldn’t hide his smile. The voice chuckled.

“I think that he almost managed to change your mind.”

“I’m...not as certain as I once was, I’ll admit.”

“It’s a shame that you had to die before he could fully talk you out of it.”

John winced.

“Right. I’m dead now. This is an odd sort of afterlife.”

“Oh, no, this isn’t the afterlife. When the Hunger’s bonds were cut all the planes you had consumed became subject to the laws again, and they couldn’t all fit into the same place. Since it was impossible for them to exist like that, they ended up here: the nowhere place. The place for things that shouldn’t exist.”

“Things like me.”

They chuckled.

“The Hunger really did a number on your soul. It’s corrupt. It was blinking in and out of existence all across the multiverse and eventually it glitched up so badly that it ended up here. It seems to have settled down now, but we’re not sure what will happen if we put you back out there.”

John sighed, looking around at the great white expanse.

“So, I’m stuck here.”

“For now. It’s not all bad, though. Other odds and ends have gotten trapped here. You’ll find them eventually if you keep walking.”

John tried to look past the millions of planes around him—gods, he really had chewed the multiverse up, hadn’t he?—and thought that he did see some shapes, far off in the distance.

“I’m just supposed to wander around here for all eternity, then.”

“Not quite. I’ve got a job for you: I want you to help us put the planes back in their proper places. That’ll go some way toward repairing the damage you’ve done.”

"You _were_ joking about letting me create my own universe."

"Oh, of course. We can't let just anyone do that. I just wanted to see your reaction."

John snorted.

"I'm being serious now, though."

“Well, this does seem appropriate.”

“We thought so.”

“What about after that, though?”

They laughed.

“You’re getting way ahead of yourself. Let’s see how you do with this, first.”

John looked at the planes again. So many shimmering colors. It looked like he had his work cut out for him.

This would give him plenty of time to think things over, if nothing else.

He nodded.

“Okay. Tell me what to do.”


End file.
